Film Annotation #6 What Would Jesus Buy? Word count: 1019
1.Title, Director, and Release Year?
This film, describing the pitfalls of Christmas shopping, is What would Jesus Buy, directed by Ron VanAlkemade. It was released in 2007.
2.What is the central argument or narrative of the film?
The central argument of the film is that Americans spend way more money on Christmas than they should. They buy too many goods and go into massive debt. Consumerism in general is a huge problem in America. Many Americans have huge debts, too many goods (some of which many would argue are not necessary), and yet are not happy. Also, Christmas used to be a religious holiday, based on spirituality and celebration, not presents. Now, people expect to get presents from others.
Reverend Billy Talen of the Church of “Stop Shopping” provided more information about consumerism and his movement in general. He hopes to remind people that Christmas has not always been about consumerism, but more of a spiritual time to spend with family.
3.How is the argument made and sustained? How much scientific information is provided, for example? Does the film have emotional appeal?
Although little scientific information is provided, the film does provide some statistics about credit card debt and consumerism in general. The film has a lot of emotional appeal, with many powerful and inspiring speeches from Reverend Billy. There were also some scenes that provided shock value, at least for me. One scene showed a closet with more clothes in it than I own (which is not that hard). The clothes were for a dog.
Many statistics about consumerism were provided in the film, such as the number of Americans in debt and how many advertisements the average American sees every day. While I would have loved to hear more information about how much American consumerism is affecting the environment, none was provided. The focus was on how much all this consumerism is ruining people’s lives and how globalization is hurting local economies in the United States.
The film showed Reverend Billy telling people to renounce buying lots of goods for Christmas. He instructed them to instead buy what they think “Jesus would buy” to turn the holiday back into a religious holiday. Another emotional draw was when the bus carrying the Church of Stop Shopping group was hit by an eighteen wheeler. Despite this setback, the people kept going, showing the importance of their mission.
The last scene of the film was Disneyland at Christmas time. Reverend Billy went out into Disneyland’s “Main Street” and started shouting about how large corporations and consumerism are killing America’s real Main Streets. Earlier, the film had showed Reverend Billy’s wife talking about how many times her husband had been arrested.
4.What sustainability problems does the film draw out? Political? Legal? Economic? Technological? Media and Informational? Organizational? Educational? Behavioral? Cultural? Ecological? What Would Jesus Buy did not discuss the issues in terms of sustainability very much. Instead, the film focused on the problems that consumers face since they buy so many products. I felt like the film assumed that the viewers would have at least some awareness of the environmental problems caused by consumerism. The film did talk about the problems of advertising to young children, specifically advertising on television, since young children do not understand the difference between advertisements and the show they are watching. It also discusses issues with globalization and the demise of “small town America”. It is almost always cheaper to buy goods from big box stores such as Walmart than from small, family owned, local businesses. As a result, many people will buy their goods from the big box stores instead of the local businesses.
5.What parts of the film did you find most persuasive and compelling? Why?
I found the idea that one does not need goods to be happy, and, in fact, goods make us unhappy because of massive consumer debt to be the most compelling part of the film. I know that when I was younger I did like toys and such, but as I grew up I realized that it was not necessary to have a lot of stuff. I also learned that the way many goods are made as well as the packaging that they are in is very bad for the environment. I really liked how What would Jesus Buy demonstrated these facts, including real life examples.
6.What parts of the film were you not compelled or convinced by? Why?
The preacher of the church of “stop shopping”, Reverend Billy Talen, was a bit too forceful and dramatic in my opinion. During the parts of the film that showed him preaching, I felt a bit scared that he was going to have a heart attack or something, which prevented me from enjoying the film as much. In real life, I feel like I would be scared by someone like that, meaning that even if I agreed with their message, I would turn away and not listen.
7.What audiences does the film best address? Why?
The audience that the film best addresses is those who already know something about the environmental problems caused by consumerism, but who might not know much about consumerism itself. The film does not go into great detail connecting environmental issues and consumerism. I felt like it assumed that the viewer already knew that.
8.What could have been added to this film to enhance its environmental education value?
If the film had connected the economic and cultural problems listed in the film to environmental problems, it would have had much more value for environmental education. What Would Jesus Buy was focused more around the harm overspending does to consumers than on the harm consumption has on the environment.
9.What kinds of action and points of intervention are suggested by the film? If the film itself does not suggest corrective action, describe actions that you can imagine being effective.
The main message that the film sent, through all of Reverend Billy Talen’s persuasiveness and his church’s carols urging people not to rely on goods to make them happy, was that people needed to lessen their consumerism, especially around Christmastime. “We are not consuming at Christmastime-we are being consumed” by large corporations and their advertisements that encourage us to buy more products.
10.What additional information has this film compelled you to seek out? (Provide at least two supporting references.)
Since I felt like What Would Jesus Buy left out a lot of information about the environmental impact of consumerism, I decided to look up a few sources to see if I could find any sort of statistics on this. I found this article, which explains very succinctly and thoroughly what a huge sustainability problem consumerism and consumption are. Another really good article has tables and graphs to show the differences in consumption between more-developed countries and less-developed ones. This article follows this with tables showing how much Americans spend on consumer goods like cosmetics, and how much money is needed to provide basic necessities for everyone on Earth.
What Would Jesus Buy?
Word count: 1019
1. Title, Director, and Release Year?
This film, describing the pitfalls of Christmas shopping, is What would Jesus Buy, directed by Ron VanAlkemade. It was released in 2007.
2. What is the central argument or narrative of the film?
The central argument of the film is that Americans spend way more money on Christmas than they should. They buy too many goods and go into massive debt. Consumerism in general is a huge problem in America. Many Americans have huge debts, too many goods (some of which many would argue are not necessary), and yet are not happy. Also, Christmas used to be a religious holiday, based on spirituality and celebration, not presents. Now, people expect to get presents from others.
Reverend Billy Talen of the Church of “Stop Shopping” provided more information about consumerism and his movement in general. He hopes to remind people that Christmas has not always been about consumerism, but more of a spiritual time to spend with family.
3. How is the argument made and sustained? How much scientific information is provided, for example? Does the film have emotional appeal?
Although little scientific information is provided, the film does provide some statistics about credit card debt and consumerism in general. The film has a lot of emotional appeal, with many powerful and inspiring speeches from Reverend Billy. There were also some scenes that provided shock value, at least for me. One scene showed a closet with more clothes in it than I own (which is not that hard). The clothes were for a dog.
Many statistics about consumerism were provided in the film, such as the number of Americans in debt and how many advertisements the average American sees every day. While I would have loved to hear more information about how much American consumerism is affecting the environment, none was provided. The focus was on how much all this consumerism is ruining people’s lives and how globalization is hurting local economies in the United States.
The film showed Reverend Billy telling people to renounce buying lots of goods for Christmas. He instructed them to instead buy what they think “Jesus would buy” to turn the holiday back into a religious holiday. Another emotional draw was when the bus carrying the Church of Stop Shopping group was hit by an eighteen wheeler. Despite this setback, the people kept going, showing the importance of their mission.
The last scene of the film was Disneyland at Christmas time. Reverend Billy went out into Disneyland’s “Main Street” and started shouting about how large corporations and consumerism are killing America’s real Main Streets. Earlier, the film had showed Reverend Billy’s wife talking about how many times her husband had been arrested.
4. What sustainability problems does the film draw out? Political? Legal? Economic? Technological? Media and Informational? Organizational? Educational? Behavioral? Cultural? Ecological?
What Would Jesus Buy did not discuss the issues in terms of sustainability very much. Instead, the film focused on the problems that consumers face since they buy so many products. I felt like the film assumed that the viewers would have at least some awareness of the environmental problems caused by consumerism. The film did talk about the problems of advertising to young children, specifically advertising on television, since young children do not understand the difference between advertisements and the show they are watching. It also discusses issues with globalization and the demise of “small town America”. It is almost always cheaper to buy goods from big box stores such as Walmart than from small, family owned, local businesses. As a result, many people will buy their goods from the big box stores instead of the local businesses.
5. What parts of the film did you find most persuasive and compelling? Why?
I found the idea that one does not need goods to be happy, and, in fact, goods make us unhappy because of massive consumer debt to be the most compelling part of the film. I know that when I was younger I did like toys and such, but as I grew up I realized that it was not necessary to have a lot of stuff. I also learned that the way many goods are made as well as the packaging that they are in is very bad for the environment. I really liked how What would Jesus Buy demonstrated these facts, including real life examples.
6. What parts of the film were you not compelled or convinced by? Why?
The preacher of the church of “stop shopping”, Reverend Billy Talen, was a bit too forceful and dramatic in my opinion. During the parts of the film that showed him preaching, I felt a bit scared that he was going to have a heart attack or something, which prevented me from enjoying the film as much. In real life, I feel like I would be scared by someone like that, meaning that even if I agreed with their message, I would turn away and not listen.
7. What audiences does the film best address? Why?
The audience that the film best addresses is those who already know something about the environmental problems caused by consumerism, but who might not know much about consumerism itself. The film does not go into great detail connecting environmental issues and consumerism. I felt like it assumed that the viewer already knew that.
8. What could have been added to this film to enhance its environmental education value?
If the film had connected the economic and cultural problems listed in the film to environmental problems, it would have had much more value for environmental education. What Would Jesus Buy was focused more around the harm overspending does to consumers than on the harm consumption has on the environment.
9. What kinds of action and points of intervention are suggested by the film? If the film itself does not suggest corrective action, describe actions that you can imagine being effective.
The main message that the film sent, through all of Reverend Billy Talen’s persuasiveness and his church’s carols urging people not to rely on goods to make them happy, was that people needed to lessen their consumerism, especially around Christmastime. “We are not consuming at Christmastime-we are being consumed” by large corporations and their advertisements that encourage us to buy more products.
10. What additional information has this film compelled you to seek out? (Provide at least two supporting references.)
Since I felt like What Would Jesus Buy left out a lot of information about the environmental impact of consumerism, I decided to look up a few sources to see if I could find any sort of statistics on this. I found this article, which explains very succinctly and thoroughly what a huge sustainability problem consumerism and consumption are. Another really good article has tables and graphs to show the differences in consumption between more-developed countries and less-developed ones. This article follows this with tables showing how much Americans spend on consumer goods like cosmetics, and how much money is needed to provide basic necessities for everyone on Earth.
Resources
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/01/0111_040112_consumerism.html
http://www.globalissues.org/issue/235/consumption-and-consumerism